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Constraining Dark Matter Halo Profiles and Galaxy Formation Models Using Spiral Arm Morphology. I. Method Outline
We investigate the use of spiral arm pitch angles as a probe of diskgalaxy mass profiles. We confirm our previous result that spiral armpitch angles (P) are well correlated with the rate of shear (S) in diskgalaxy rotation curves by using a much larger sample (51 galaxies) thanused previously (17 galaxies). We use this correlation to argue thatimaging data alone can provide a powerful probe of galactic massdistributions out to large look-back times. In contrast to previouswork, we show that observed spiral arm pitch angles are similar whenmeasured in the optical (at 0.4 μm) and the near-infrared (at 2.1μm) with a mean difference of 2.3d+/-2.7d. This is then used tostrengthen the known correlation between P and S using B-band images. Wethen use two example galaxies to demonstrate how an inferred shear ratecoupled with a bulge-disk decomposition model and a Tully-Fisher-derivedvelocity normalization can be used to place constraints on a galaxy'sbaryon fraction and dark matter halo profile. We show that ESO 582-G12,a galaxy with a high shear rate (slightly declining rotation curve) at~10 kpc, favors an adiabatically contracted halo, with high initial NFWconcentration (cvir>16) and a high fraction of halobaryons in the form of stars (~15%-40%). In contrast, IC 2522 has a lowshear rate (rising rotation curve) at ~10 kpc and favorsnonadiabatically contracted models with low NFW concentrations(cvir~=2-8) and a low stellar baryon fraction <10%.
| The Distribution of Bar and Spiral Arm Strengths in Disk Galaxies
The distribution of bar strengths in disk galaxies is a fundamentalproperty of the galaxy population that has only begun to be explored. Wehave applied the bar-spiral separation method of Buta and coworkers toderive the distribution of maximum relative gravitational bar torques,Qb, for 147 spiral galaxies in the statistically well-definedOhio State University Bright Galaxy Survey (OSUBGS) sample. Our goal isto examine the properties of bars as independently as possible of theirassociated spirals. We find that the distribution of bar strengthdeclines smoothly with increasing Qb, with more than 40% ofthe sample having Qb<=0.1. In the context of recurrent barformation, this suggests that strongly barred states are relativelyshort-lived compared to weakly barred or nonbarred states. We do notfind compelling evidence for a bimodal distribution of bar strengths.Instead, the distribution is fairly smooth in the range0.0<=Qb<0.8. Our analysis also provides a first look atspiral strengths Qs in the OSUBGS sample, based on the sametorque indicator. We are able to verify a possible weak correlationbetween Qs and Qb, in the sense that galaxies withthe strongest bars tend to also have strong spirals.
| Structure and star formation in disk galaxies. III. Nuclear and circumnuclear Hα emission
From Hα images of a carefully selected sample of 57 relativelylarge, Northern spiral galaxies with low inclination, we study thedistribution of the Hα emission in the circumnuclear and nuclearregions. At a resolution of around 100 parsec, we find that the nuclearHα emission in the sample galaxies is often peaked, andsignificantly more often so among AGN host galaxies. The circumnuclearHα emission, within a radius of two kpc, is often patchy inlate-type, and absent or in the form of a nuclear ring in early-typegalaxies. There is no clear correlation of nuclear or circumnuclearHα morphology with the presence or absence of a bar in the hostgalaxy, except for the nuclear rings which occur in barred hosts. Thepresence or absence of close bright companion galaxies does not affectthe circumnuclear Hα morphology, but their presence does correlatewith a higher fraction of nuclear Hα peaks. Nuclear rings occur inat least 21% (±5%) of spiral galaxies, and occur predominantly ingalaxies also hosting an AGN. Only two of our 12 nuclear rings occur ina galaxy which is neither an AGN nor a starburst host. We confirm thatweaker bars host larger nuclear rings. The implications of these resultson our understanding of the occurrence and morphology of massive starformation, as well as non-stellar activity, in the central regions ofgalaxies are discussed.
| Bar-induced perturbation strengths of the galaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey - I
Bar-induced perturbation strengths are calculated for a well-definedmagnitude-limited sample of 180 spiral galaxies, based on the Ohio StateUniversity Bright Galaxy Survey. We use a gravitational torque method,the ratio of the maximal tangential force to the mean axisymmetricradial force, as a quantitative measure of the bar strength. Thegravitational potential is inferred from an H-band light distribution byassuming that the M/L ratio is constant throughout the disc. Galaxiesare deprojected using orientation parameters based on B-band images. Inorder to eliminate artificial stretching of the bulge, two-dimensionalbar-bulge-disc decomposition has been used to derive a reliable bulgemodel. This bulge model is subtracted from an image, the disc isdeprojected assuming it is thin, and then the bulge is added back byassuming that its mass distribution is spherically symmetric. We findthat removing the artificial bulge stretch is important especially forgalaxies having bars inside large bulges. We also find that the massesof the bulges can be significantly overestimated if bars are not takeninto account in the decomposition.Bars are identified using Fourier methods by requiring that the phasesof the main modes (m= 2, m= 4) are maintained nearly constant in the barregion. With such methods, bars are found in 65 per cent of the galaxiesin our sample, most of them being classified as SB-type systems in thenear-infrared by Eskridge and co-workers. We also suggest that as muchas ~70 per cent of the galaxies classified as SAB-types in thenear-infrared might actually be non-barred systems, many of them havingcentral ovals. It is also possible that a small fraction of the SAB-typegalaxies have weak non-classical bars with spiral-like morphologies.
| On the alignment between binary spiral galaxies
We show some significance against the null hypothesis of randominteractions of binary spiral galaxies, and in favour of the alternativethat more interactions than expected occur for axes either nearlyparallel (spins being parallel or anti-parallel) or nearly orthogonal.We discuss this in the context of similar prior studies, using adifferent statistical focus in such a way that we are able toincorporate additional data.
| Inner-truncated Disks in Galaxies
We present an analysis of the disk brightness profiles of 218 spiral andlenticular galaxies. At least 28% of disk galaxies exhibit innertruncations in these profiles. There are no significant trends oftruncation incidence with Hubble type, but the incidence among barredsystems is 49%, more than 4 times that for nonbarred galaxies. However,not all barred systems have inner truncations, and not allinner-truncated systems are currently barred. Truncations represent areal dearth of disk stars in the inner regions and are not an artifactof our selection or fitting procedures nor the result of obscuration bydust. Disk surface brightness profiles in the outer regions are wellrepresented by simple exponentials for both truncated and nontruncateddisks. However, truncated and nontruncated systems have systematicallydifferent slopes and central surface brightness parameters for theirdisk brightness distributions. Truncation radii do not appear tocorrelate well with the sizes or brightnesses of the bulges. Thissuggests that the low angular momentum material apparently missing fromthe inner disk was not simply consumed in forming the bulge population.Disk parameters and the statistics of bar orientations in our sampleindicate that the missing stars of the inner disk have not simply beenredistributed azimuthally into bar structures. The sharpness of thebrightness truncations and their locations with respect to othergalactic structures suggest that resonances associated with diskkinematics, or tidal interactions with the mass of bulge stars, might beresponsible for this phenomenon.
| The ISOPHOT 170 μm Serendipity Survey II. The catalog of optically identified galaxies%
The ISOPHOT Serendipity Sky Survey strip-scanning measurements covering≈15% of the far-infrared (FIR) sky at 170 μm were searched forcompact sources associated with optically identified galaxies. CompactSerendipity Survey sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio in at leasttwo ISOPHOT C200 detector pixels were selected that have a positionalassociation with a galaxy identification in the NED and/or Simbaddatabases and a galaxy counterpart visible on the Digitized Sky Surveyplates. A catalog with 170 μm fluxes for more than 1900 galaxies hasbeen established, 200 of which were measured several times. The faintest170 μm fluxes reach values just below 0.5 Jy, while the brightest,already somewhat extended galaxies have fluxes up to ≈600 Jy. For thevast majority of listed galaxies, the 170 μm fluxes were measured forthe first time. While most of the galaxies are spirals, about 70 of thesources are classified as ellipticals or lenticulars. This is the onlycurrently available large-scale galaxy catalog containing a sufficientnumber of sources with 170 μm fluxes to allow further statisticalstudies of various FIR properties.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments fundedby ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, TheNetherlands and the UK) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (CISS) areMPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca, AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena,Imperial College London.Full Table 4 and Table 6 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/422/39
| Deprojecting spiral galaxies using Fourier analysis. Application to the Ohio sample
We use two new methods developed recently (Barberàet al.\cite{bar03}, A&A, 415, 849), as well as information obtained fromthe literature, to calculate the orientation parameters of the spiralgalaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey. We comparethe results of these methods with data from the literature, and find ingeneral good agreement. We provide a homogeneous set of mean orientationparameters which can be used to approximately deproject the disks of thegalaxies and facilitate a number of statistical studies of galaxyproperties.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/421/595
| Structure and star formation in disc galaxies - I. Sample selection and near-infrared imaging
We present near-infrared imaging of a sample of 57 relatively large,northern spiral galaxies with low inclination. After describing theselection criteria and some of the basic properties of the sample, wegive a detailed description of the data collection and reductionprocedures. The Ksλ= 2.2-μm images cover most ofthe disc for all galaxies, with a field of view of at least 4.2 arcmin.The spatial resolution is better than 1 arcsec for most images. We fitbulge and exponential disc components to radial profiles of the lightdistribution. We then derive the basic parameters of these components,and the bulge/disc ratio, and explore correlations of these parameterswith several galaxy parameters.
| Bar Galaxies and Their Environments
The prints of the Palomar Sky Survey, luminosity classifications, andradial velocities were used to assign all northern Shapley-Ames galaxiesto either (1) field, (2) group, or (3) cluster environments. Thisinformation for 930 galaxies shows no evidence for a dependence of barfrequency on galaxy environment. This suggests that the formation of abar in a disk galaxy is mainly determined by the properties of theparent galaxy, rather than by the characteristics of its environment.
| Arm Structure in Anemic Spiral Galaxies
Anemic galaxies have less prominent star formation than normal galaxiesof the same Hubble type. Previous studies showed they are deficient intotal atomic hydrogen but not in molecular hydrogen. Here we compare thecombined surface densities of H I and H2 at mid-disk radiiwith the Kennicutt threshold for star formation. The anemic galaxies arebelow the threshold, which explains their lack of prominent starformation, but they are not much different than other early-typegalaxies, which also tend to be below threshold. The spiral waveamplitudes of anemic and normal galaxies were also compared, usingimages in B and J passbands from the OSU Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey.Anemic galaxies have normal spiral wave properties too, with the sameamplitudes and radial dependencies as other galaxies of the same armclass. Because of the lack of gas, spiral waves in early-type galaxiesand anemics do not have a continuous supply of stars with low velocitydispersions to maintain a marginally stable disk. As a result, they areeither short lived, evolving toward lenticulars and S0 types in only afew rotations at mid-disk, or they are driven by the asymmetriesassociated with gas removal in the cluster environment.
| Arm and Interarm Star Formation in Spiral Galaxies
We present an outline of our study of the effects of star formation onthe different components of the interstellar medium in the discs ofspiral galaxies, both globally and as a function of arm and interarmenvironment. We are in the process of obtaining images of 57 spiralgalaxies at low inclinations, and analysing them to study thedistribution of recent massive star formation, old stars, young stars,gas and dust. We will dissect the images into arm and interarm regionsand compare and contrast the morphology and scale lengths within theseregions in H_α, HI, the near infrared, optical and (whereavailable) CO. Modelling will show how the scale lengths are affected bystar formation, how this differs between arms and interarms, and whetherthe Schmidt Law varies from the global values in the arm and interarmregions.
| The Frequency of Active and Quiescent Galaxies with Companions: Implications for the Feeding of the Nucleus
We analyze the idea that nuclear activity, either active galactic nuclei(AGNs) or star formation, can be triggered by interactions by studyingthe percentage of active, H II, and quiescent galaxies with companions.Our sample was selected from the Palomar survey and avoids selectionbiases faced by previous studies. This sample was split into fivedifferent groups, Seyfert galaxies, LINERs, transition galaxies, H IIgalaxies, and absorption-line galaxies. The comparison between the localgalaxy density distributions of the different groups showed that in mostcases there is no statistically significant difference among galaxies ofdifferent activity types, with the exception that absorption-linegalaxies are seen in higher density environments, since most of them arein the Virgo Cluster. The comparison of the percentage of galaxies withnearby companions showed that there is a higher percentage of LINERs,transition galaxies, and absorption-line galaxies with companions thanSeyfert and H II galaxies. However, we find that when we consider onlygalaxies of similar morphological types (elliptical or spiral), there isno difference in the percentage of galaxies with companions amongdifferent activity types, indicating that the former result was due tothe morphology-density effect. In addition, only small differences arefound when we consider galaxies with similar Hα luminosities. Thecomparison between H II galaxies of different Hα luminositiesshows that there is a significantly higher percentage of galaxies withcompanions among H II galaxies with L(Hα)>1039 ergss-1 than among those with L(Hα)<=1039ergs s-1, indicating that interactions increase the amount ofcircumnuclear star formation, in agreement with previous results. Thefact that we find that galaxies of different activity types have thesame percentage of companions suggests that interactions betweengalaxies is not a necessary condition to trigger the nuclear activity inAGNs. We compare our results with previous ones and discuss theirimplications.
| The gravitational torque of bars in optically unbarred and barred galaxies
The relative bar torques for 45 galaxies observed at K-band with the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope are determined by transforming the lightdistributions into potentials and deriving the maximum ratios of thetangential forces relative to the radial forces. The results arecombined with the bar torques for 30 other galaxies determined from ourprevious K-band survey (Buta & Block \cite{buta01}). Relative bartorques determine the degree of spiral arm forcing, gas accretion, andbar evolution. They differ from other measures of bar strength, such asthe relative amplitude of the bar determined photometrically, becausethey include the bulge and other disk light that contributes to theradial component of the total force. If the bulge is strong and theradial forcing large, then even a prominent bar can have a relativelyweak influence on the azimuthal motions in the disk. Here we find thatthe relative bar torque correlates only weakly with the optical bar typelisted in the Revised Shapley-Ames and de Vaucouleurs systems. In fact,some classically barred galaxies have weaker relative bar torques thanclassically unbarred galaxies. The optical class is a poor measure ofazimuthal disk forcing for two reasons: some infrared bars are not seenoptically, and some bars with strong bulges have their azimuthal forcesso strongly diluted by the average radial force that they exert onlysmall torques on their disks. The Hubble classification scheme poorlyrecognizes the gravitational influence of bars. Applications of our bartorque method to the high-redshift universe are briefly discussed. Basedon observations made with the William Herschel Telescope, operated onthe island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias.
| Nearby Optical Galaxies: Selection of the Sample and Identification of Groups
In this paper we describe the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, whichis a complete, distance-limited (cz<=6000 km s-1) andmagnitude-limited (B<=14) sample of ~7000 optical galaxies. Thesample covers 2/3 (8.27 sr) of the sky (|b|>20deg) andappears to have a good completeness in redshift (97%). We select thesample on the basis of homogenized corrected total blue magnitudes inorder to minimize systematic effects in galaxy sampling. We identify thegroups in this sample by means of both the hierarchical and thepercolation ``friends-of-friends'' methods. The resulting catalogs ofloose groups appear to be similar and are among the largest catalogs ofgroups currently available. Most of the NOG galaxies (~60%) are found tobe members of galaxy pairs (~580 pairs for a total of ~15% of objects)or groups with at least three members (~500 groups for a total of ~45%of objects). About 40% of galaxies are left ungrouped (field galaxies).We illustrate the main features of the NOG galaxy distribution. Comparedto previous optical and IRAS galaxy samples, the NOG provides a densersampling of the galaxy distribution in the nearby universe. Given itslarge sky coverage, the identification of groups, and its high-densitysampling, the NOG is suited to the analysis of the galaxy density fieldof the nearby universe, especially on small scales.
| Radio Sources in Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei. I. VLA Detections of Compact, Flat-Spectrum Cores
We report a high-resolution (0.2"), 15 GHz survey of a sample of 48low-luminosity active galactic nuclei with the Very LargeArray.5 Compact radio emission has beendetected above a flux density of 1.1 mJy in 57% (17 of 30) oflow-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) nuclei andlow-luminosity Seyfert galaxies. The 2 cm radio power is significantlycorrelated with the emission-line ([O I] λ6300) luminosity. Usingradio fluxes at other frequencies from the literature, we find that atleast 15 of the 18 detected radio cores have a flat to inverted spectrum(α>=-0.3, Sν~να). While thepresent observations are consistent with the radio emission originatingin star-forming regions (the brightness temperatures are>=102.5-4.5 K), higher resolution radio observations of 10of the detected sources, reported in an accompanying paper, show thatthe cores are very compact (<~1 pc), of high brightness temperature(Tb>~108 K), and probably synchrotronself-absorbed, ruling out a starburst origin. Thus, our results suggestthat at least 50% of low-luminosity Seyfert galaxies and LINERs in thesample are accretion powered, with the radio emission presumably comingfrom jets or advection-dominated accretion flows. We have detected only1 of 18 ``transition'' (i.e., LINER+H II) nuclei observed, indicatingthat their radio cores are significantly weaker than those of ``pure''LINERs. Compact 2 cm radio cores are found in both type 1 (i.e., withbroad Hα) and type 2 (without broad Hα) nuclei. There isweak evidence, limited in significance by small numbers, thatlow-luminosity active galactic nuclei with compact radio cores exhibitradio ejecta preferentially aligned along the rotation axis of thegalaxy disk. If this result were confirmed by a larger sample, it wouldlend support to the idea that the misalignment of accretion disks withthe galaxy stellar disk in more luminous Seyfert galaxies is a result ofradiation-pressure-induced warping of their accretion disks.
| Investigations of the Local Supercluster velocity field. III. Tracing the backside infall with distance moduli from the direct Tully-Fisher relation
We have extended the discussion of Paper II (Ekholm et al.\cite{Ekholm99a}) to cover also the backside of the Local Supercluster(LSC) by using 96 galaxies within Theta <30degr from the adoptedcentre of LSC and with distance moduli from the direct B-bandTully-Fisher relation. In order to minimize the influence of theMalmquist bias we required log Vmax>2.1 and sigmaB_T<0.2mag. We found out that ifRVirgo<20 Mpc this sample fails to follow the expecteddynamical pattern from the Tolman-Bondi (TB) model. When we compared ourresults with the Virgo core galaxies given by Federspiel et al.(\cite{Federspiel98}) we were able to constrain the distance to Virgo:RVirgo=20-24 Mpc. When analyzing the TB-behaviour of thesample as seen from the origin of the metric as well as that withdistances from the extragalactic Cepheid PL-relation we found additionalsupport to the estimate RVirgo= 21 Mpc given in Paper II.Using a two-component mass-model we found a Virgo mass estimateMVirgo=(1.5 - 2)x Mvirial, whereMvirial=9.375*E14Msun forRVirgo= 21 Mpc. This estimate agrees with the conclusion inPaper I (Teerikorpi et al. \cite{Teerikorpi92}). Our results indicatethat the density distribution of luminous matter is shallower than thatof the total gravitating matter when q0<= 0.5. Thepreferred exponent in the density power law, alpha ~2.5, agrees withrecent theoretical work on the universal density profile of dark matterclustering in an Einstein-deSitter universe (Tittley & Couchman\cite{Tittley99}).
| Arcsecond Positions of UGC Galaxies
We present accurate B1950 and J2000 positions for all confirmed galaxiesin the Uppsala General Catalog (UGC). The positions were measuredvisually from Digitized Sky Survey images with rms uncertaintiesσ<=[(1.2")2+(θ/100)2]1/2,where θ is the major-axis diameter. We compared each galaxymeasured with the original UGC description to ensure high reliability.The full position list is available in the electronic version only.
| Groups of galaxies. III. Some empirical characteristics.
Not Available
| Bulge-Disk Decomposition of 659 Spiral and Lenticular Galaxy Brightness Profiles
We present one of the largest homogeneous sets of spiral and lenticulargalaxy brightness profile decompositions completed to date. The 659galaxies in our sample have been fitted with a de Vaucouleurs law forthe bulge component and an inner-truncated exponential for the diskcomponent. Of the 659 galaxies in the sample, 620 were successfullyfitted with the chosen fitting functions. The fits are generally welldefined, with more than 90% having rms deviations from the observedprofile of less than 0.35 mag. We find no correlations of fittingquality, as measured by these rms residuals, with either morphologicaltype or inclination. Similarly, the estimated errors of the fittedcoefficients show no significant trends with type or inclination. Thesedecompositions form a useful basis for the study of the lightdistributions of spiral and lenticular galaxies. The object base issufficiently large that well-defined samples of galaxies can be selectedfrom it.
| Catalogue of HI maps of galaxies. I.
A catalogue is presented of galaxies having large-scale observations inthe HI line. This catalogue collects from the literature the informationthat characterizes the observations in the 21-cm line and the way thatthese data were presented by means of maps, graphics and tables, forshowing the distribution and kinematics of the gas. It containsfurthermore a measure of the HI extension that is detected at the levelof the maximum sensitivity reached in the observations. This catalogueis intended as a guide for references on the HI maps published in theliterature from 1953 to 1995 and is the basis for the analysis of thedata presented in Paper II. The catalogue is only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Total magnitude, radius, colour indices, colour gradients and photometric type of galaxies
We present a catalogue of aperture photometry of galaxies, in UBVRI,assembled from three different origins: (i) an update of the catalogueof Buta et al. (1995) (ii) published photometric profiles and (iii)aperture photometry performed on CCD images. We explored different setsof growth curves to fit these data: (i) The Sersic law, (ii) The net ofgrowth curves used for the preparation of the RC3 and (iii) A linearinterpolation between the de Vaucouleurs (r(1/4) ) and exponential laws.Finally we adopted the latter solution. Fitting these growth curves, wederive (1) the total magnitude, (2) the effective radius, (3) the colourindices and (4) gradients and (5) the photometric type of 5169 galaxies.The photometric type is defined to statistically match the revisedmorphologic type and parametrizes the shape of the growth curve. It iscoded from -9, for very concentrated galaxies, to +10, for diffusegalaxies. Based in part on observations collected at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory.
| A Search for ``Dwarf'' Seyfert Nuclei. III. Spectroscopic Parameters and Properties of the Host Galaxies
We have completed an optical spectroscopic survey of the nuclear regions(r <~ 200 pc) of a large sample of nearby galaxies. Although the mainobjectives of the survey are to search for low-luminosity activegalactic nuclei and to quantify their luminosity function, the databasecan be used for a variety of other purposes. This paper presentsmeasurements of the spectroscopic parameters for the 418 emission-linenuclei, along with a compilation of the global properties of all 486galaxies in the survey. Stellar absorption generally poses a seriousobstacle to obtaining accurate measurement of emission lines in nearbygalactic nuclei. We describe a procedure for removing the starlight fromthe observed spectra in an efficient and objective manner. The mainparameters of the emission lines (intensity ratios, fluxes, profilewidths, and equivalent widths) are measured and tabulated, as areseveral stellar absorption-line and continuum indices useful forstudying the stellar population. Using standard nebular diagnostics, wedetermine the probable ionization mechanisms of the emission-lineobjects. The resulting spectral classifications provide extensiveinformation on the demographics of emission-line nuclei in the nearbyregions of the universe. This new catalog contains over 200 objectsshowing spectroscopic evidence for recent star formation and an equallylarge number of active galactic nuclei, including 46 that show broad Halpha emission. These samples will serve as the basis of future studiesof nuclear activity in nearby galaxies.
| An Atlas of Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Images of Nearby Galaxies
We present an atlas of UV (~2300 A) images, obtained with the HubbleSpace Telescope (HST) Faint Object Camera, of the central 22" x 22" of110 galaxies. The observed galaxies are an unbiased selectionconstituting about one-half of a complete sample of all large (D >6') and nearby (V < 2000 km s^-1^) galaxies. This is the firstextensive UV imaging survey of normal galaxies. The data are useful forstudying star formation, low-level nuclear activity, and UV emission byevolved stellar populations in galaxies. At the HST resolution (~0.05"),the images display an assortment of morphologies and UV brightnesses.These include bright nuclear point sources, compact young star clustersscattered in the field or arranged in circumnuclear rings, centrallypeaked diffuse light distributions, and galaxies with weak or undetectedUV emission. We measure the integrated ~2300 A flux in each image,classify the UV morphology, and examine trends between these parametersand the optical properties of the galaxies.
| Redshift periodicity in the Local Supercluster.
Persistent claims have been made over the last ~15yr that extragalacticredshifts, when corrected for the Sun's motion around the Galacticcentre, occur in multiples of ~24 or ~36km/s. A recent investigation byus of 40 spiral galaxies out to 1000km/s, with accurately measuredredshifts, gave evidence of a periodicity ~37.2-37.7km/s. Here we extendour enquiry out to the edge of the Local Supercluster (~2600km/s),applying a simple and robust procedure to a total of 97 accuratelydetermined redshifts. We find that, when corrected for related vectorsclose to recent estimates of the Sun's galactocentric motion, theredshifts of spirals are strongly periodic (P~37.6km/s). The formalconfidence level of the result is extremely high, and the signal is seenindependently with different radio telescopes. We also examine a furthersample of 117 spirals observed with the 300-foot Green Bank telescopealone. The periodicity phenomenon appears strongest for the galaxieslinked by group membership, but phase coherence probably holds overlarge regions of the Local Supercluster.
| A search for 'dwarf' Seyfert nuclei. 2: an optical spectral atlas of the nuclei of nearby galaxies
We present an optical spectral atlas of the nuclear region (generally 2sec x 4 sec, or r approximately less than 200 pc) of a magnitude-limitedsurvey of 486 nearby galaxies having BT less than or = 12.5mag and delta greater than 0 deg. The double spectrograph on the Hale 5m telescope yielded simultaneous spectral coverage of approximately4230-5110 A and approximately 6210-6860 A, with a spectral resolution ofapproximately 4 A in the blue half and approximately 2.5 A in the redhalf. This large, statistically significant survey contains uniformlyobserved and calibrated moderate-dispersion spectra of exceptionallyhigh quality. The data presented in this paper will be used for varioussystematic studies of the physical properties of the nuclei of nearbygalaxies, with special emphasis on searching for low-luminosity activegalactic nuclei, or 'dwarf' Seyferts. Our survey led to the discovery offour relatively obvious but previously uncataloged Seyfert galaxies (NGC3735, 492, 4639, and 6951), and many more galactic nuclei showingevidence for Seyfert activity. We have also identified numerouslow-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs), some of which maybe powered by nonstellar processes. Of the many 'starburst' nuclei inour sample, several exhibit the spectral features of Wolf-Rayet stars.
| Recalibration of the H-0.5 magnitudes of spiral galaxies
The H-magnitude aperture data published by the Aaronson et al.collaboration over a 10 year period is collected into a homogeneous dataset of 1731 observations of 665 galaxies. Ninety-six percent of thesegalaxies have isophotal diameters and axial ratios determined by theThird Reference Cataloque of Bright Galaxies (RC3; de Vaucouleurs et al.1991), the most self-consistent set of optical data currently available.The precepts governing the optical data in the RC3 are systematicallydifferent from those of the Second Reference Catalogue (de Vaucouleurs,de Vaucouleurs, & Corwin 1976), which were used by Aaronson et al.for their original analyses of galaxy peculiar motions. This in turnleads to systematic differences in growth curves and fiducialH-magnitudes, prompting the present recalibration of the near-infraredTully-Fisher relationship. New optically normalized H-magnitude growthcurves are defined for galaxies of types SO to Im, from which new valuesof fiducial H-magnitudes, Hg-0.5, are measured forthe 665 galaxies. A series of internal tests show that these fourstandard growth curves are defined to an accuracy of 0.05 mag over theinterval -1.5 less than or equal to log (A/Dg) less than orequal to -0.2. Comparisons with the Aaronson et al. values of diameters,axial ratios, and fiducial H-magnitudes show the expected differences,given the different definitions of these parameters. The values ofHg-0.5 are assigned quality indices: a qualityvalue of 1 indicates an accuracy of less than 0.2 mag, quality 2indicates an accuracy of 0.2-0.35 mag, and quality 3 indicates anaccuracy of more than 0.35 mag. Revised values of corrected H I velocitywidths are also given, based on the new set of axial ratios defiend bythe RC3.
| A Preliminary Classification Scheme for the Central Regions of Late-Type Galaxies
The large-scale prints in The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies have been usedto formulate a classification scheme for the central regions oflate-type galaxies. Systems that exhibit small bright central bulges ordisks (type CB) are found to be of earlier Hubble type and of higherluminosity than galaxies that do not contain nuclei (type NN). Galaxiescontaining nuclear bars, or exhibiting central regions that are resolvedinto individual stars and knots, and galaxies with semistellar nuclei,are seen to have characteristics that are intermediate between those oftypes CB and NN. The presence or absence of a nucleus appears to be auseful criterion for distinguishing between spiral galaxies andmagellanic irregulars.
| Quantitative Morphology of Bars in Spiral Galaxies
As suggested by numerical simulations, the axis ratio of the bar is afundamental parameter to describe the dynamical evolution of a barredgalaxy. In a first-order approximation considering bars as ellipticalfeatures, visual measurements of bar axis ratios and lengths of 136spiral galaxies were performed on photographs of good linear scale.Despite the limitations affecting such measurements, morphologicalproperties of bars in spirals along the Hubble sequence as well as therelationship between the bar axis ratio and nuclear star formationactivity are studied. It is found that the relative length of bars inearly-type galaxies is, on average, about a factor of 3 larger than thelength observed in late-type spirals. Also, a relation between barlengths and bulge diameters is observed for both early-type andlate-type spirals, confirming results from previous works. Furthermore,although the number of objects is small, there is an apparentcorrelation between the presence of nuclear star formation activity andthe bar axis ratio: about 71% of the starburst galaxies included in thesample have a strong bar (b/a < 0.6). The introduction of thesequantitative parameters in galaxy classification schemes is discussed.
| On the size and formation mechanism of the largest star-forming complexes in spiral and irregular galaxies
The average diameters of the largest star complexes in most of thespiral and irregular galaxies in the Sandage and Bedke Atlas of Galaxieswere measured from the Atlas photographs. The complex diametersDc correlate with galaxy magnitude as Dc = 0.18 -0.14MB, which has about the same slope as the correlation forthe largest H II regions studied by Kennicutt. There is no obviouscorrelation between Dc and either Hubble type or spiral armclass at a given magnitude. The variation of Dc withMB closely matches the expected variation in thecharacteristic length of the gaseous gravitational instabilityconsidering that the rotation curve varies with MB and thatthe stability parameter Q is about 1 in the outer regions of the disk.This match corresponds to an effective velocity dispersion of 6.1 km/sthat is about the same for all spiral and irregular galaxies.
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